SUBURBAN NEIGHBORHOODS GOING TO POT

No doubt without intending to, a U.S. Justice Department report on
the ambitious federal marijuana plant eradication program, documents
that the campaign has not only failed to make much of a dent in the
marijuana marketplace, it has had the perverse effect of driving
producers to indoor sites, notably to suburban homes.

In other words, if one of your neighbors has converted the place to
an indoor marijuana plantation, guarded by somewhat unsavory-looking
characters who look as if they might be packing heat and attracting a
number of disreputable-looking hangers-on, you can thank the state
and federal governments. It's your tax dollars at work; except that
the drug war isn't working.

Here's how the National Drug Threat Assessment from the National Drug
Intelligence Center of the Justice Department put it:

"Federal, state, and local law enforcement reporting indicates that
vigorous outdoor cannabis eradication efforts have caused major
marijuana producers, particularly Caucasian groups, to relocate
indoors, even in leading outdoor grow states such as California and Tennessee."

The report goes on to say that one side effect of shifting to indoor
sites is that "The groups will produce higher-potency marijuana
year-round, allowing for exponential increase in profits derived."
Indoor cultivation allows the growers to more closely monitor growing
conditions and adjust them for maximum effect.

While aggressive eradication activities have had some impact,
especially in driving production to the suburbs, the report makes
clear that it hasn't done much to reduce overall production. While
the feds are seizing record numbers of plants, production operations
in California (mostly northern) "are extensive, widespread, becoming
more sophisticated, and increasing in size." Meanwhile, "marijuana
availability is widespread."

So the drug warriors don't reduce availability, but they push growers
into your neighborhood and increase their profitability. Is that what
the drug war was intended to do?